Northampton Arson-Murder Suspect Arrested

by: January 5, 2010Northampton, MA

A 25-year-old Northampton man accused of setting 15 fires in town, including one house fire that killed two of his neighbors, was charged this morning with two counts of murder and held without bail. Anthony P. Baye pleaded not guilty Tuesday at his arraignment to those charges and counts of arson and armed burglary in Northampton District Court. Court documents show Baye was interviewed by police in the area the night of the fires. Police say Baye was soaked, smelled strongly of alcohol and appeared nervous. According to police, Baye said he was visiting his girlfriend in the neighborhood, but they later disproved that alibi. And, police say, Baye later confessed, on video, to setting a fire on the porch of the home where 81-year-old Paul Yeskie Sr. and his 39-year-old son, Paul Yeskie Jr. died in the fire early in the morning of Thursday, December 27. District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel said Tuesday it was one of 15 related fires set within 75 minutes. Baye, who lives in the Yeskies’ neighborhood, has not been charged with the other fires. A woman who answered the door at the Baye home Tuesday declined comment.